Sarah Bridges

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There's a sad, compulsive, edge-of-the-abyss desperation to Nick Nolte's intuitive and informed performance as Bob, the heroin-addicted ex-filch and professional gambler title character of Neil Jordan's "The Good Thief."

There's a strung-out savoir-faire to his addiction-driven way of life in the underbelly of beautiful Nice in the South of France. He's sleep-deprived (it shows in his eyes and in his mumbled speech). He's broke (but that changes from day to day). He's a washout (and he's OK with that). But he's also cagey, cunning, collected and quick-witted enough to recognize an opportunity too good to pass up.

So when Raoul (Gerard Darmon), his most trusted compatriot from his days as a crook, comes to him with a plan for an almost impossibly elaborate heist worth tens of millions of dollars, Bob seizes the opportunity to trade in his drug addiction for the more stimulating high of gambling with danger, excitement, prison and potential wealth.